The Pacific Legal Foundation has asked me to post the following announcement of a call for papers, which I am happy to do, as it may be of interest to many legal scholars, law students, and others:
Pacific Legal Foundation's Center for the Separation of Powers seeks papers for a research roundtable on ending agency adjudication of private rights to be held near the end of October.
Today, both federal and state agencies with the power to issue substantive regulations, investigate potential violations, and institute enforcement actions often also have the power to adjudicate disputes between private parties and the government (and even in some cases between private parties). The hearing officers who decide these disputes are often themselves agency employees. Many are picked based on their scores on a general civil service exam, rather than on agency-specific expertise. Agencies thus act as lawmaker, prosecutor, judge, jury, and appellate judges.
We seek papers that address ending coercive agency adjudication from numerous perspectives, including empirical and nonempirical approaches.
Please submit a brief research proposal that describes your thesis or research question(s) and intended methodology and how your research will contribute to the discussion of whether coercive agency adjudication should be ended….
Authors of accepted papers will receive a $2,500 honorarium. Authors will benefit from robust feedback on their research. Papers will be published as a working paper on the PLF website…. [which does not preclude publication in academic journals or elsewhere].
The submission deadline is July 1, though later submissions may be considered depending budgetary and space constraints. More information on the symposium and how to submit proposals at the PLF website.
